In the last few years, there has been a debate raging at Manchester City as to who is the better striker, Sergio Aguero or Erling Haaland.
Well, it is not an easy question to answer, given how long the Argentine striker was successful at City.
In total, Aguero played 390 times for the East Mancunian outfit, and his record speaks volumes about how good he is. The 101-cap Argentina international bagged 260 goals in that time. You consider it ludicrous to go against him in this debate.
Sergio Aguero celebrates
Yet, the numbers Haaland is putting up certainly make him better than Aguero in the eyes of many.
Why Haaland is Man City's greatest striker
This is a debate that, at this stage, doesn’t really have a right answer. However, with the trajectory that Haaland is on, it is hard to see him failing to overtake Aguero’s record as City’s all-time top goalscorer.
Erling-Haaland-Man-City
In just 161 appearances in the famous Sky Blue shirt, the 25-year-old already has 143 goals to his name, as well as 22 assists. He’s averaging a goal involvement in more than every game. That is why Jamie Carragher said Haaland is “the greatest goalscorer to ever play in English football.”
Indeed, his form this season has been astronomical. Already, he’s found the back of the net 19 times in just 15 games. Miraculously, he’s not added to the 11 hat-tricks he has for the club, but has bagged twice in a game six times.
Haaland
Haaland is a simply ridiculous number nine who can do it all, from excellent link-up play to clinical finishing in the box. His goal against Arsenal is perhaps the best example, with the striker starting the move by tucking the ball round the corner to Tijjani Reijnders, before charging forward and receding the ball again to score.
The Norwegian is incredible, although City don’t have a natural striker as his understudy if he gets injured. If that were the case, the answer might be an academy star who could one day take the number nine shirt after Haaland.
Man City's in-house number nine after Haaland
Haaland’s injury record isn’t perfect. The striker has missed 26 games since he moved to City, and they don’t really have a natural replacement. Omar Marmoush can lead the line, but he excels in a slightly deeper role, a little like Julian Alvarez did.
Lucky for the Citizens, they might have the perfect striker in the academy in the form of Mahamadou Sangare.
The France U18 centre-forward only moved to the club in the summer from Paris Saint-Germain, but is already excelling in the youth side.
This season across all competitions for the esteemed City academy, Sangare has found the back of the net on nine occasions in just 14 games. That includes three goals in four UEFA Youth League games.
In fact, it was in that competition that Sangare put in his most impressive performance to date. The 18-year-old shone against AS Monaco U19s, bagging a hat-trick and assisting one goal, after creating two chances.
Sangare vs. Monaco U19s
Stat
Touches
Opposition half passes completed
Aerial duels won
Shots
Goals
Chances created
Assists
Stats from Sofascore
One person who has spoken highly of the striker is football scout Antonio Mango. He called Sangare a “prolific” number nine, complementing him on the fact that he was one of the standout PSG youngsters last season. He scored 33 times in 35 games for their U19s.
Well, it certainly seems like City are seeing the quality he can bring to the youth sides. It will be fascinating to see how quickly Sangare’s development continues. He certainly has an eye for goal and will be hoping that he can translate that to senior level.
Of course, the 18-year-old is quite some way from being on Haaland’s level, but with his natural goalscoring instinct, there is no reason why he can’t establish himself in the first team. Perhaps he will even be the natural successor to Haaland’s iconic number nine shirt.